Newcastle Diamonds' new rider Henning Loof has been blocked from riding for the Brough Park club.

The sports controlling body - the BSPA - have blocked the move because they say Loof's assessed average should be 8.00 and not 5.00 as Newcastle thought.

Therefore the Diamonds cannot fit the German rider into their side on the increased figure as it is greater than that of the man he was due to replace - Richard Juul on 6.48.

The decision left team manager George English little time to bring in someone before the weekend's matches but he has come up trumps by persuading a rider already on Newcastle's books, Kristian Lund, to rejoin the club.

The BSPA are sticking rigidly to the wording in the rulebook in not allowing Loof to ride on a five-point average but it seems very harsh on the rider that just two appearances in 2002 for Danish League side Holsted means he becomes an eight-point man.

English said: "It is very disappointing for us and Henning is gutted. He actually needed to be reminded about those two matches he rode in the Danish League because it was so long ago.

"We are very fortunate that Kristian Lund was released from his short-term loan with Edinburgh at the same time as our application to use Henning was being rejected.

"Kristian rode as a guest for us last Sunday when Lubos Tomicek was not available and won two races and scored seven points. Something similar in every match and we will be delighted."

Meanwhile, Berwick Bandits notched their fourth away win at Hull last night to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League. They pipped the Vikings, 46-44.